Who’d a thought it was really going to happen? The fella occupying the White House south of the 49th parallel has announced a $10,000 Student Loan Debt Relief; up to $20,000 for those with PELL Grants (a US financial aide program). I confess I had to check my calendar because I was thinking maybe it was Christmas and I had forgotten to buy my wife a present. The good news is that I still have time to check off that box.
If you like ‘free’ money, you gotta love Biden – because under his administration he has doled out taxpayer money faster than the water that pours out over Niagara Falls. What’s not to love about that, unless of course you are a taxpayer.
There is no real knowledge of the costs of this debt forgiveness, though the current estimate of $329.1 “B” as in Billion over 10 years (according to Penn Wharton Budget Model) is just the iceberg I suspect. Most media pundits (e.g., MSNBC, CNN, Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, Fox) see costs climbing to at least $600 billion. Think what we might, policymakers will need to make up for the total cost of the forgiveness through added taxation, spending cuts, borrowing, or a combination of all the above. Nothing new there!
Now why should I care? I mean, I am a Canadian . . . living here apparently in the Garden of Eden . . . a Promised Land of sorts, flowing with green energy and Wokeism! Well, to be honest, I am interested because a Christian friend of mine living in the U.S. and on the teaching faculty of one of my traditions theological training centers recently posted:
“Given Jesus’ inaugural words in Nazareth (Luke 4) and the prayer he taught us to pray (Luke 11), I’m saddened by fellow Christians upset about debt forgiveness.”
Now I confess I am not interested in the recipients of debt forgiveness … or the future earning power of graduate students … or whether it boosts near-term inflation (I think it will), or whether it is a ‘racial and economic justice issue’ (Isn’t everything these days?) Still, it would be nice if Harvard, one of 80 private schools with over $1 billion, would crack open its $53 Billion dollar endowment vault to advantage students rather than themselves. Let’s not forget Yale ($42), Stanford ($38), Princeton ($38), MIT ($27), plus, plus, plus! There are over 53 public schools with a “B” in their vaults too, starting with the University of Texas System, who have managed to squirrel away $42 billion. Yah, I know. I’m meddling! I should consider the merits of having taxpayers be burdened by Biden’s Buck scheme.
The Bible nowhere says that debt is a sin or the result
of being disobedient. In other words, we should not ascribe
morality to issues of debt.
My actual interest in the subject is because when you invoke the name of Jesus (It’s done all the time) to applaud Biden’s action, I am always interested in how Jesus’ name is accurately . . . or inaccurately leveraged . . . and how passages of Scripture cited are pimped to support a point of view. So, let’s think of Biden’s actions here as a trampoline to a greater conversation about cancelling debt and in precisely what way Luke 4 and 11 are supportive of this White House action. Perhaps, like my friend, I should be saddened, too. Maybe all Christians should be saddened. What does a review of the Lukan passages reveal about debt forgiveness, assuming it does. Am I ‘another one’ of those uncompassionate Christians that folks talk about? I did request further details from my friend, but to date – silence. He must be on vacation!
In Luke 4, we are introduced to Jesus’ temptation and first Galilean ministry. Filled, led, and walking in the Spirit, He successfully resists the devil, only to be rejected at Nazareth, but miraculously walks away from a crowd intending to throw Him over a cliff. With that under the belt of his tunic, he goes on a healing campaign, taking on sickness, unclean spirits and demons alike, to boot.
When Jesus was in Nazareth, where He had been brought up, on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and read from the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 61, and announced prophetically that He has come to heal the fivefold damage that sin brings (vv. 16-20).
To preach the gospel to the poor
To heal the brokenhearted
To proclaim liberty to the captives
Recovery of sight to the blind
To set at liberty those who are oppressed
Jesus’ ‘Good News” summary includes a variety of groups, including prisoners, the blind, oppressed and the ‘poor’, those economically disadvantaged and marginalized. In a very real sense, all of those in the list are at the bottom of society; all of them could be readily described as poor, seems to me.
Disappointingly, what I cannot find anywhere within Chapter 4 is anything that looks even remotely connected to the presidential give-away! Sure, we see Christ’s compassionate efforts to lift people from the negative effects of sin here . . . and later in the chapter, from disease, malignant spirits and death, but ‘poor’ in the context is not about lifting the poor up into the middle class. That is our cultures answer to the poor and I think it accurate to say that this is what the White House is looking to do. The gospel is preached to the poor because they are receptive . . . because unlike the middle-class and rich who seldom understand them, the poor intuitively know what it means to be weak, powerless and innocent. It is this condition that makes them particularly receptive to the ‘good news’. This brings Matthew 5:3 to mind: “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Jesus’ words about preaching the “Gospel to the poor” are intended
as a rebuke to the blindness and deafness of todays powerbrokers; those with riches and power who have no time for God.
It is helpful to know that Isaiah 61 was understood in 1st century Judaism as referencing the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:1-13) – an observance that came every 50th year (some argue 49th) and was marked by returning property to whomever owned it, the release of slaves and the cancelling of everyone’s debts (Debt is never explicitly mentioned). Jesus would know this. Here, everyone started off with a clean slate – everyone! Is there merit here then in connecting Jesus’ reference to the poor with Leviticus to Biden’s give away? No, and I will explain why.
Not surprisingly, those rebels against British colonialism chose Leviticus 25:10 to put on their Liberty Bell. "Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof."
A common myth connected to the Year of Jubilee (and this is where most folks go wrong) is that debt is cancelled or forgiven. This is not true, because the debt is indeed paid. In fact, Leviticus 25 prohibits anyone from selling himself or his land off permanently! Instead, the one in debt could only rent (lease) out the land (esp. vv. 15-16) or his labour for a maximum of forty-nine years. After that, all indentured labour and all leases expired. The ‘buyer’ does not really own the land from the one in debt but leases it and the debt is paid off by the crops on the land; the sale is for the use of the land! Should the debt exceed the value of the crops, the debtor could supplement his lease by selling his labour as an indentured servant.
It would be nice if someone paid off a debt like a student loan – but we will find no support for this from Jubilee! Jubilee is not the forgiveness of debt because there was nothing to be forgiven. It was paid! BTW – the intent of the law here was not economic equality, or to push the evils of capitalism. Nor is Jubilee a universally applicable principle for believers. But I will save that discussion for another time perhaps.
Some will argue, “OK, so the debt was paid . . . and this is precisely what the government in Washington intends to do, namely pay student debt.” Not true. The debt will still be outstanding because the government intends to borrow to pay for it. Is the government taking the loss like a person owed money would be? No! The government is not taking the loss, but merely placing the debt on the shoulder of the taxpayers. In the end, Luke 4 provides no credible biblical support or warrant for believers to leverage against their brothers / sisters who are unhappy with Biden-Buck giveaways.
The president’s proposal is not a legislative one. He is invoking a
novel reading of the Heroes Act which gives him authority in
the event of a national emergency. The national emergency?
Covid! It’s the ‘gift’ that keeps on giving, it seems.
Maybe Luke 11 is helpful to the conversation here. Perhaps Jesus’ inaugural words in his prayer at the beginning of this chapter provide the supportive theological framework my friend genuinely feels touches on Biden’s efforts to cancel student loan debt. Let us see.
Noted for its simplicity and brevity, Luke opens with Jesus’ teaching on prayer (vv. 1-8), providing a helpful pattern to those who might struggle in this area. In this prayer we find those rather familiar words: “For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.” I like what Clarke says:
“Jesus represented sins with the idea of being indebted. The sinner owes a debt to God.” Sin is represented here under the notion of a debt, and as our sins are many, they are called debts. God made man that he might live to His glory and gave him a law to walk by; and if, when he does any thing that tends not to glorify God, he contracts a debt with Divine Justice.”
For sure, those who have been forgiven should show forgiveness to others. Notice that this forgiveness is connected to those who are indebted to another person. Banks, Visa and Short-term Loan centers and government agencies are not in view here. It seems rather obvious that the forgiven one will show forgiveness to others who have judged them for their past, failed relationships, insignificant mistakes, grudges, hurts, wrongdoings, etc. . . . however, even a very catholic, global, all-encompassing approach to the six Greek words cannot load the statement with any number of debt reduction schemes like car-debt forgiveness . . . mortgage forgiveness . . . or government loan forgiveness. Any such application is ill-conceived and an unimaginable stretch of the text. We should remind ourselves this is a personal prayer Jesus is teaching us when we pray to the Father and how we go about conducting our personal lives.
Who in their right mind, under inflationary circumstances, lays another trillion-dollar debt on the back of their taxpayers, for the sake of so few? Someone have a Bible verse for this, because Luke 11 does not cut it?
Deeper into Luke 11, there is some talk about praying with child-like confidence (vv. 9-13), controversy over demons and signs (vv. 14-26), addressing who are those truly blessed (vv. 27-28) and sign seekers (vv. 29-32) and then Jesus turns His attention to hypocrites of the religious kind (vv. 33-54) – words which might have some bearing on the topic at hand; or maybe not. Yes, the love of Christ permeates Christian theology, but if you think Jesus is a one-dimensional person who spoke only about love, love, love, you best not read these verses. Why get upset, right?
Jesus’ words to the religious guys are brutal. He targets two groups, the pharisees and the experts in the law.
“Be generous to the poor” (v. 41)
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.” (v. 42)
The pharisees were hypocrites! Their tithing was meticulous, even down to the herbs growing in their gardens: Mint, rue … and no doubt the parsley, oregano, thyme and sage leaves, too. Surprisingly, Jesus says this was not a bad thing . . . leaving me to conclude that I need to drop off some of my garden tomatoes and peppers at the church. To their shame, says Jesus, justice (horizontal) and loving God (vertical) were being neglected.
Talk about justice is everywhere. Every day there seems to be ‘breaking news’ on Social Justice … Climate Justice … Voting Rights Justice … Prison Reform Justice … Healthcare Justice … Equality Justice … Racial Justice … Income Justice … Equity Justice and Refugee Justice. With such a proliferation of justice issues, I sometimes secretly wonder if it isn’t all just trendy, with activists riding dopamine highs much like I ride the Leviathan rollercoaster at Canada’s Wonderland.
Using criminal justice as an example, we are all supposed to be equal before the bar of justice in our Canadian courts. This is why Lady Justice wears a blindfold. Even the Bible has a perspective on this “. . . you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great . . .” (Leviticus 19:15). When it comes to justice, NO one group is more privileged than another; NO one group is to benefit more than another! Equal treatment = Equal justice … and the government should assume a certain degree of responsibility in ensuring this. So should we. Still, there is nothing here that bears on the justice or injustice of Student Loan Debt Relief.
David wrote, “The wicked borrow and do not repay” (Psalm 37:21). The Apostle Paul wrote “Pay all your debts except the debt of love for others— never finish paying that!” (Romans 13:8).
At this point in the narrative, a lawyer, unable to keep quiet, draws attention to himself and pipes up, saying, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also” (v. 45). Silly guy! So Jesus leans in and addresses him as well, pointing out their oppressive religious system:
“You load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.” (v. 46)
The “burdens hard to bear” were real … and nutty too, in my opinion. I admit that I do not know which religious demands Jesus had specifically in mind were, but here are some examples on the tying of knots and folding clothes on the Sabbath, as noted by Tractate Sabbath, Chapter 15, Book I, Babylonian Talmud, dated about 500 CE. Imagine living this way.
“One may tie a bucket (over the well) with his girdle, but not with a rope.”
“R. Jeremiah was walking behind R. Abuha on unclaimed ground, and the band of his sandal having been torn off, he asked R. Abuha what to do. R. Abuha told him to take damp seaweeds, which animals can eat (and which may therefore be handled on Sabbath) and tie his sandal.”
“The school of R. Yanai said: The Mishna only permits the folding of clothes by one man, but not by two, and also only in case the clothes are new, but not if they are old (because old clothes are better preserved by folding). New clothes must only be folded if they are white clothes, but not if they are colored. White clothes may be folded only if they constitute all the garments possessed by the man; but if he had others, he must not fold even those.”
Whatever the precise “burdens hard to bear” were, debt relief would not be part of the mix because religious coercion is in view. The application from the passage seems clear: It is wrong to use Scripture as a tool of oppression and control and evade one’s personal responsibility before God.
Can believers cancel the debts of those who owe them money. Absolutely!
Can believers forgive others of their moral debts however they might have been wronged? Sure!
Can believers forgive folks for someone else? Nope! There was a process for locating debt cancellation in the office of the High Priest, but this does not apply to Biden’s plan. Besides, we all know he is not a religious figure.
If Jesus had in the back of his mind Jubilee (debt forgiveness) when he cited Isaiah 61 (Leviticus 25) in Luke 4, then can we not apply it to students today overwhelmed by debt and give them a chance to start over? I cannot imagine Jesus NOT knowing about Leviticus 15, but as already demonstrated it does not fit Biden’s Bucks student loan forgiveness of $10,000 or more.
Should believers participate in assisting those who are needy within the congregation? I hope so! Barnabas, who was a Levite, sold a field, set the proceeds at the feet of the apostle Paul and in the process modeled Jubilee restoration (Acts 4:37). The result? “There were no needy persons among them” (4:34). I like that. Therefore, let me encourage those believers who are supportive of Biden’s debt relief strategy to sell some of their possessions and help. I mean – ‘That would be biblical, wouldn’t it?’
19% of US households with total incomes below $125,000
have student loan debt, leaving 81% of households who earn
less than $125,000 without any benefit.
Matthew Chingos, VP Education Data and Policy, Urban Institute.
While I believe an argument could be made for governments re-ordering the entire economy (Jubilee) around the need for periodic cancellation of debt ... that goes far beyond simply targeting a select group of people making upwards of six figure salaries (124,999 – single; $249,999 - couple) to benefit from the government give-away. Those financial numbers come nowhere close to meeting the biblical definition of poor ... orphaned or widowed. Of the 178 uses of the word ‘poor’, here is what ‘poor’ looks like in the Bible:
“Then the poor among you may get food” (Exodus 23:11).
“If . . . he is poor and cannot afford these” (Leviticus 14:21).
“If one . . . becomes poor and is unable to support himself” (Leviticus 25:35).
“Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it” (Deuteronomy 24:15).
“The poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb” (2 Samuel 12:3).
“The infant of the poor is seized for a debt” (Job 24:9).
“For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem” (Romans 15:26).
“Suppose . . . a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in” (James 2:2).
Time and again, debt forgiveness is intended as relief for profound oppression. We seem to forget this!
Now we can quibble over what President Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. is up to:
Governments notoriously give payouts (or cancellations) in one form or another to their friends or political allies. They might even do it to garnish votes! Is this the strategy here?
Current government officials consistently refuse to put a price tag on the total cost because they do not know. Christians should not forget the admonition in Luke 14:28 “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” Failure to do so leads others to ‘mock him’. Who adds an additional debt of $500 – $900 billion (even more) in a time of terrible inflation?
Imagine 320 million people, a great many who did not go to college because they did not want the debt, paying a benefit for 30 million, a significant number who are college and graduate school graduates who do not need help and do not fit the biblical standard of being poor.
Why not bring the Student Loan Debt Relief program before Congress? It is because the administration understands it would have to demonstrate that the COVID emergency justifies the action.
When everything is said and done, I am not an American citizen, so it does not touch my life and since I have no skin in the game, who cares what I think. I agree – wholeheartedly.
But what does interest me are matters of theology and how the name of Jesus is frequently invoked in biblical debate surrounding public policy issues – like Biden’s giveaway. There is no doubt that within Scripture there is a moral framework that is abiding and inherently compassionate. However, just as we should not hurt the poor to benefit the rich … it is fundamentally immoral of a government to squander public money or pile up debt that consumes a greater and greater share of their national budget and the dollars people work hard to earn. Over extension is not just a personal matter; it is a governmental one too (Romans 13:1-8).
In the end, it is a long stretch to suggest that because of Jesus’ words in Luke 4 and 11, anyone should be “saddened by fellow Christians upset about debt forgiveness.” I am not buying it. Let government address affordable housing, mental health issues and job shortages. Let them get to the root cause of why student borrowers have such high debt in the first place and fix the dysfunctional higher education system so that opportunistic universities and colleges (many with huge endowments) start making education more affordable. Did you know that for every dollar given for student loans, the average university tuition increase goes up sixty cents? 1 Expanded access to loans equals tuition hikes! And the government facilitates it.
Finally, instead of amassing greater government debt to offer Student Loan Debt Relief to a majority who do not meet the biblical standard of ‘poor’ . . . let each believer strive for personal actions that give them peace in feeling that they served God in a way He would be pleased with. “OnlySaying...”
1. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York; 2017 study.
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